Javokhir Sindarov

Javokhir Sindarov is an Uzbek chess player who became a grandmaster at the age of 12. As a member of the Uzbekistan national team, he won gold at the 44th Chess Olympiad. He also won the 2025 Chess World Cup and, in 2026, the Candidates Tournament, earning the right to play against the reigning World Chess Champion Gukesh Dommaraju.

Early years

Javokhir was born in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, on December 8, 2005, into a family of a businessman and a schoolteacher. His grandfather, Komil Sindarov, the vice president of the Uzbekistan Chess Federation, taught him to play chess. Javokhir was only four and a half years old at the time. Besides Javokhir, the family has three other boys, Sindarov’s younger brothers, one of whom, Islombek, also plays chess professionally.

Chess career

Javokhir Sindarov began showing his chess talent at an early age. By the age of 5–6, he was already winning city and regional tournaments.

In 2012, he won the Asian School Chess Championship in the under-7 category. Two years later, Sindarov won the World School Rapid and Blitz Championships in the under-9 category. At the same tournament, his brother Islombek won gold in the under-7 category.

Also in 2014, Javokhir made his first appearance at the World Junior Chess Championship in classical chess, where he finished ninth. His compatriot Nodirbek Abdusattorov finished second.

Road to the grandmaster title

In 2017, Sindarov became an International Master. The following year, he earned his first grandmaster norm at the Alekhine Memorial.

After finishing second at the World Junior Championship, his rating surpassed 2500. In October 2018, Sindarov earned his third grandmaster norm at the First Saturday tournament and became the second-youngest grandmaster in history at the time.

FIDE officially awarded him the grandmaster title in 2019.

First appearances at the World Cup

At the 2021 World Cup, Sindarov, seeded 121st, caused a sensation by defeating Alireza Firouzja, who was among the world’s top ten players, in a tiebreak.

After this victory, he advanced to the round of 16, where he lost to Kacper Piorun.

At the 2023 World Cup, Sindarov again secured an important victory, this time defeating Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. In the next round, he lost to Arjun Erigaisi.

Successful performances at international tournaments

At the Asian Games, Sindarov won a bronze medal in the individual rapid chess competition and also helped the Uzbekistan team finish third in the team event.

He then finished fourth at the Qatar Masters Open, scoring 6½ points out of 9 and remaining undefeated.

At the FIDE Grand Swiss Tournament, he finished eighth with a score of 7/11. Sindarov’s only loss came against Vidit Gujrathi, who went on to win the tournament. He also defeated Levon Aronian.

Breaking the 2700 rating barrier

After his performance at the Grand Swiss Tournament, his FIDE rating surpassed 2700 for the first time in his career.

At the UzChess Cup Masters, he finished fifth and defeated Nodirbek Abdusattorov.

Victory at the World Cup

In 2025, Sindarov began working with coach Roman Vidonyak.

At the World Cup, he was the 16th seed and defeated Yu Yangyi, Frederik Svane, and Jose Martinez Alcantara. In the semifinals, he defeated Nodirbek Yakubboev, while in the final he beat Wei Yi.

The final consisted of four games, three of which ended in draws. The fourth game remained balanced until Wei Yi made a serious blunder in time trouble.

Instead of defending the king, Wang Yi took the pawn on d4, hoping that the king would have escape squares available. However, it turned out that by doing so, he lost the rook after the queen delivered a double attack on the final move. Realizing this, Wang Yi resigned, and Sindarov became the winner of the Chess World Cup.

As a result, Sindarov qualified for the 2026 Candidates Tournament. He also became the first Uzbek winner of the Chess World Cup and the youngest champion in the tournament's history at the age of 19 years, 11 months, and 18 days.

Victory in the Candidates Tournament

At the 2026 Candidates Tournament, Sindarov scored 10 points out of a possible 14 and finished in first place. This became the best result in the tournament's history in the modern format.

One of the most interesting encounters was the game between Sindarov and Fabiano Caruana in the fourth round of the tournament. Full game (Caruana played Black, Javokhir played White):

Caruana was intent on launching an aggressive attack, but Sindarov's accurate moves and successful counterplay forced the American grandmaster to resign on move 36.

Sindarov secured victory in the tournament before the final round was completed and earned the right to play a match for the world championship title.

Following his victory, Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev awarded the chess player the Order of «Mehnat Shuhrati».

Playing Style

At one point, Sindarov said: «If I get a dynamic position with either color, I will be very happy». And this is not surprising, as he often demonstrates an aggressive, dynamic style of play. He regularly puts pressure on his opponents and forces them to make mistakes. Javokhir enjoys sacrificing pieces and playing in complex strategic positions.

Personal Life

Javokhir Sindarov is in a relationship with Kazakh chess player Bibisara Assaubayeva, a three-time Women's World Blitz Champion.

In 2026, both chess players took part in the Candidates Tournaments, which were held in Cyprus. Sindarov competed for the right to play a match for the men's world chess championship, while Assaubayeva competed in the women's tournament and finished second.

Despite his busy chess schedule, Javokhir is interested in sports outside of chess. He supports the football club «Barcelona» and enjoys watching football matches in his free time.

As a teenager, Sindarov was fond of computer games, particularly Counter-Strike, and could spend many hours playing. However, in 2021, he decided to fully refocus on his chess career.